


Art & Literature: Their Simplest Purposes

by Littlebluejay_hidingpeanuts



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-25 02:48:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22424956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Littlebluejay_hidingpeanuts/pseuds/Littlebluejay_hidingpeanuts
Summary: Essay on the Purpose of Art and Literature. Missing Works Cited.





	Art & Literature: Their Simplest Purposes

What is the purpose of art & literature? Why take the time to create? The basic purposes are simply to hold attention, to take the audience away from the utilitarian, to represent the world through the creator’s perspective, and to accomplish whatever the creator made it to do. Art is “the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance” (Dictionary.com 32). Literature is “writing in which expression and form, in connection with ideas of permanent and universal interest, are characteristic or essential features” (Dictionary.com 320). Everything has an artistic side to it, just as everything has a mechanical side to it. Art is superfluous. Art and literature are creations. They are original and manmade. Luxuries even, yet they have a growing number of purposes. 

The purpose of art & literature is to gain and hold the audience’s attention. It is hard to imagine a work of art whose purpose is never to be seen or a book that must never be read. There are buildings dedicated to the viewing of paintings, sculptures, and to the works of famous artists. More and more libraries are built to hold thousands of books and reading materials for all to enjoy. The buildings would not be standing if people did not want them there. They must find their contents interesting and anything that is interesting holds attention. Blank canvases, blobs of clay, random blocks of rock, or empty journals are not kept around, but are sold so that they may be used and turned into art. If creativity did not hold people’s attention, it would not exist. The great philosophers, Tolstoy, Collingwood, Wilde, and Sidney, unknowingly agree upon this idea. All the additional purposes they came up with and argued over are void if this one is not believed. For a painting to express emotion, as Tolstoy believes it must, it first captures the viewer’s attention. All creativity does this with its interest and charm.

After attention is established, the artistic endeavor takes the audience away from the utilitarian. This means that instead of thinking about the function of the piece or its uses, the viewer is swept away into the feeling, emotion, or opinion of the piece. Tolstoy believed this completely. His thesis in What is Art? clearly states that art comes from “…a feeling he [the artist] once experienced, calls it up again within himself and expresses it by external signs” (Tolstoy 38). The external signs are art. Feeling is the opposite of utility and function just as opinion is the opposite of fact. As it was said before, everything has an artistic and a mechanical, that is, practical side. The machine that puts car parts together does not inspire the same thoughts as the Mona Lisa. Yet both had to be built and designed (the utilitarian and the artistic sides of any product). The fact that the two sides are opposite allows one side, usually art, to lead the audience away from thinking about the other side, utility. Ingenuity is more appealing, so it steals the show. Imagination moves the audience’s attention away from the practical.

Art & literature represent the world from the originator’s perspective. These crafts show the creator’s thoughts, opinions, feelings, and interests as well as how he or she sees the world. Saruet saw tiny dots of color. Van Gogh saw textures. Kinkade saw what he thought others would enjoy. Kinkade is a particularly good example because many people either believe him to be fantastic or horrible. This controversy comes from the fact that outsiders cannot determine the thoughts in a man’s mind. His perspective is his own and he is giving it to others. Kinkade tries to show scenes where the world is perfect. He does this in the hopes of changing the real world into a place where people are happy and enjoying life. This is Kinkade’s interest. He even says, “I have this certain ability to have in my mind an image that means something to real people” (Orlean 128). Kinkade would rather think of the world as huge beautiful wonderland than to come to terms with reality. His paintings are his reality. This is what people see when viewing Knikade’s work. Paintings, stories, and movies all change mood and content when they are remade. Copies can alter dramatically based upon outlook of the person behind the brush, pen, or camera. Art & literature represent the perspective of whoever is creating them.

The last purpose is usually disputed because it can be false. Art & literature’s aspiration of accomplishing whatever the creator made it for can be impossible to achieve. Critics will ask, “What about the artists and writers who did not make their creations for any reason?” About these products one must simply say that they are the exception. These artworks and novels were created for art’s sake. Most paintings are made because someone is paying for them. Portraits and landscapes can be found in many houses that used to be owned by the rich. Kinkade is a good example of this as well. He has made his work collectible. His company has made puzzles, ornaments, and other nick-knacks with the images of Kinkade’s well-known and highly stylistic paintings. His paintings sell because he has made them to be sold. They are tasteful and idyllic. Millions of people own one of his lithographs already, but want more. Across time, artists have done their work to pay the bills, give their pieces away as gifts, or gain popularity. Art is their job just like any other. Instead of butchering pigs and selling the meat or making laws and running a country, these workers write history and give it illustrations. They need art to live. They have chosen it as their livelihood. When art sells, makes a friend happy, or makes its creator famous, its purpose is completed.

Oscar Wilde once said, “All art is quite useless” (Wilde 18). He was right. One cannot use art to breathe or eat. All it does is hang on a wall or sit on a self. But art & literature do have purpose. They fill the corners and crevices of life. They make life worth living. If there were no art in the world, it would be dull and hard. Art brightens a person’s day. It captures one’s eye and stops them from thinking about work or school. A book can delight one into thinking in a new way. Art surrounds people in everything they do, in everything they think, as if it breathes with them, enveloping them, like air. 


End file.
